Tinley considers village-owned newspaper boxes

Village wants control over "mess" at train stations

November 22, 2012|By Dennis Sullivan, Special to the Tribune

Trustee David Seaman questioned the newsworthiness of some publications at the two commuter rail stations, saying, "Some of these throwaways are simply marketing." Shown in the photo are vending boxes outside the 80th Avenue Metra station. (Dennis Sullivan, Chicago Tribune)

Village Trustee David Seaman recently used a discussion about removing "ugly, chained-up" vending boxes at Tinley Park's two commuter rail stations to wonder what makes a newsprint publication a newspaper.

"To what degree is a free throwaway thing an exercise of the free press?" Seaman asked during the village board's budget, audit and administration committee discussion.

Seaman's interest is more than academic. Municipal staff is recommending replacing the 27 free standing vending boxes at the Oak Park and 80th Avenue Metra stations with a single village-owned unit that is compartmentalized to dispense up to 20 different publications.

The proposal allocates space in the municipal unit on a first-come, first-served basis, with publishers filing a request form and, if approved, paying $40 a year to the village by Dec. 15.

Trustee Brian Maher worried about regulating publications. "I just don't want to be a test case for a constitutional question," said Maher, a lawyer.

But a staff memo provided to trustees cites a court case in which Los Angeles successfully defended its right to control the location of newspapers based on its goal of "curtail(ing) visual clutter, for aesthetic and safety reasons."

Currently, 18 of the 27 units at the two train stations vend publications advertising jobs, homes, remodeling, farms, trucks and equipment. The Chicago Tribune and TribLocal account for three of the nine units dispensing newspapers at the two stations.

"We have a mess in some places," Seaman said, displaying an image of 14 individual vending machines lined up on the 80th Avenue Station's north side. "We've gotta keep it orderly and organized," he said.

And then there are the advertisement-oriented publications that don't bother with a vending unit, said Village Clerk Pat Rea. Those delivering them "park and drop 500 and then get back in the truck," he said. That would change under the proposal with Rea saying, "One of the big pluses is we maintain it."

Responding to a question from Trustee Tom Staunton, Mertens said under the ordinance, "We have the right to remove (free standing vending boxes) with proper notice."

As Staunton and Seaman raised questions about the possibility of the village-owned racks filling with marketing-oriented publications, Mertens said, "Can we have a hierarchy of publications? That's a question for the attorney."

Outside the meeting, Mertens said the proposal would not affect newspaper sales by individuals at the stations. He also said there were no immediate plans to extend the control beyond the stations to historic districts.